Anchor



Oct. 23, 1962 c. J. WHEELER 3,059,607

ANCHOR Filed Feb. 15,1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

CHARLES J. WHEELER ATTORNEYS 1962 c. J. WHEELER 3,059,607

ANCHOR Filed Feb. 13, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 6

7 INVENTOR. CHARLES JjWHEELER BY WW MW ATTORNEYS States 3,059,607 ANCHOR Charles J. Wheeler, Painesville, Ohio, assignor, by direct and mesne assignments, of one-half to Thomas E.

Fisher and Lowell 1L. Heinke, a partnership composed of Thomas E. Fisher and Lowell l'... Heinke; threeeighths to Pyle and Fisher, a partnership composed of Ray L. Pyle and Thomas E. Fisher; and one-eighth to Lowell L. Heinke Filed Feb. 13, 1959, Ser. No. 793,110 11 Claims. (Cl. 114-208) This invention pertains to marine anchors and more particularly to anchors which are most ideally suited for use with small craft.

In anchoring a marine vessel, securing the anchor to the bottom of a body of water is frequently a problem. Once the anchor is secured an even more diiiicult problem is encountered in that it is often extremely ditlicult to raise the anchor. At times the anchor becomes so securely embedded in the bottom as to make hoisting of it extremely difiicult. With small boats where hoisting is accomplished by a man pulling on the anchor line, raising of the anchor is at times practically impossible without resorting to such extremes as diving for it.

One proposal which sought to overcome these diificulties provided an anchor in which the arms were pivotally mounted on the shank and in which a relatively strong spring held the arms in an anchoring position. When the boat operator wished to raise such an anchor he would accelerate his boat in a direction away from the anchor causing the arm embedded in the bottom of the body of water to shift relative to the shank against the action of the spring. Once the arm had passed over center and the spring had passed its maximum distention, the arm swung to a rather reverse position which facilitated pulling the arm and a fluke at the end of the arm from the bottom. The difliculty with this proposal has been that if a spring is provided which is strong enough to hold the boat firmly in high winds, or the like, the boat may not have the power to overcome the spring when the boat operator seeks to raise the anchor. This can and has resulted in small boats swamping. Further such an anchor was of no value whatsoever with sailing craft which, even if equipped with auxiliary power, could not overcome such a spring. Further, because of limited mobility, a sailing vessel has the greatest need for a dependable releasable anchor.

The present invention provides an anchor which can always be released from the bottom of a body of water. The release can be accomplished from the boat. This invention also provides an anchor which will positively hold a vessel in an anchored position, and which anchor will not accidentally shift to the hoisting position.

Accordingly, the principal object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved anchor which can easily be released from the bottom of a body of water at the will of the operator and which at the same time will dependably anchor a vessel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved anchor which can, at the election of the operator, be released either through standard techniques or through the utilization of a novel and improved releasing mechanism.

A related object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved anchor which is equipped with a releasing mechanism which is actuated by contact with an operator controlled releasing means.

A related object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved anchor having a releasing trigger and a triggering device in the form of a ring slidable along the anchor line.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved anchor which has an anchoring position,

3,059,607 Patented Oct. 23, 1962 a release position, a lock to hold it in the anchoring position, operator control means to contact and release the lock, and in which the relative position of the anchor line and the anchor fluke when in the anchoring position is the opposite of the released position.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved anchor which has a plurality of arms pivotally carried by a shank, and a lock bar which holds the arms and the shank in a fixed relative position for anchoring.

A related specific object of the invention is to provide an anchor made in accordance with the foregoing object in which a sleeve is slidably carried by the shank and operably connectable to both the lock bar and the pivot arms.

An alternate specific object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved anchor in which the line is connected to the crown end of the shank by a tong, and in which a slack auxiliary line is connected to the crown of the anchor in order that upon release of the tong further tensioning of the line will pull the anchor in a reverse direction.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by refer-ring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary partially sectioned view of one of the novel and improved anchors in the preferred form;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of one of the novel and improved anchors in an alternate form On a reduced scale with respect to FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of a novel and improved split ring used as the operator control actuation means and shown on an enlarged scale with respect to FIGURE 1;

FIGURES 4 and 5 are sequential views of yet another embodiment of the invention showing the release of the anchor from the bottom of a body of water; and,

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary top plan View on an enlarged scale of the embodiment of FIGURES 4 and 5 in the released position.

In the drawings a shank is designated by 10 in each of the figures. The shank 10 has a ring end 11 and a crown end 12. A plurality of arms 13 are connected to the shank 10 at the crown end 12. Each of the arms 13 has a fluke 14 at its outer end. An anchor line 16 is connected to the ring end 11.

The previously described parts find an equivalent in both name and function in any prior art anchor. In each of the drawings an anchor of the grappling type which has four arms is disclosed. Analysis of the invention will show that it may be app-lied to an anchor with any number of arms. For example, the invention is equally applicable to a Danforth type anchor having, for all practical purposes, one arm, or the Northill type anchor which has-a pair of foldable arms, or a stock anchor. Thus, the invention is equally applicable to an anchor with any number of arms.

In FIGURE 1 a plurality of pivots 20 are provided at the crown end 12. Each of the arms 13 is pivotally carried by one of the pivots 20. Each of the arms 13 has an arm extension 21 which lies against a stop 22 formed on the shank -10 when the arms are in the disclosed anchoring position. Each of the arm extensions or projections 21 has a reduced diameter end portion 23 which extends under a sleeve 25.

The sleeve 25 is slidably carried on the shank 10. The sleeve 25 is held in the anchoring position by a lock bar 26. The lock bar 26 is connected to the shank 10 by a pivot pin 27. The lock bar 26 is held in the anchoring position by a spring 28 which is interposed between the 3 lock bar and the shank 10. A stop guard 29 may be fixed to the shank ll) to serve as a stop and thereby prevent accidental depression of the lock bar 26.

In FIGURE 3 a split ring 30 is disclosed. The split ring 30 has a hinge pin 31 to permit relative opening of sections 32, 33. A suitable means is provided to lock the sections 32, 33 together. This means may take the form of a leaf spring 34 which projects into a notch 35 to hold the sections together.

The split ring 30 may be positioned around the anchor line and dropped down it. The split ring 30 slides over the shank and a release portion 36 of the lock bar 26. The release portion 36 has an outer camming surface 37 which the ring 30 acts against. As the ring 30 travels from the ring end of the anchor toward the crown end 12 it will depress the release portion 36 and shift the lock bar 26, against the action of the spring 28, to the position shown in phantom in FIGURE 1.

Once the lock bar 26 is released, further tensioning on the anchor line will cause carnming surfaces 38 on the extensions 21 to shift the sleeve 25 to the position shown in phantom. This permits the arms 13 to move to a release position as will be described in more detail. If desired, a light spring may be used to aid in shifting the sleeve 25 to the release position.

In FIGURE 2 an alternate form of release mechanism in shown. There, a crown end ring 40 is added to a standard four arm or grappling type anchor. A releasable tong 41 has an eye 42 which is removably connected to the ring end 11. The tong 41 has first and second lever members 43, 44 held together by a pivot pin 45. The lever members each have portions which define half of the eye 42 and arm portions 46, 47 respectively. The arm portion 46 corresponds in purpose and function to the lock bar release portion 36. The arm portion 47 has an end eye 43 to which a main line extension 49 of the anchor line 16 is connected. A slack auxiliary line 50 is provided to connect the anchor line 16 to the crown end ring 41).

The lever members 43, 44 are urged into a normally closed position by a light spring 51. The spring 51 urges the lever members together along a parting line 52 in the eye 42. It should be noted that inner surfaces 53 adjacent the parting line 52 are relatively flat and transverse to the shank 19 when connected to the anchor. These flat surfaces prevent accidental opening of the tong from tensioning of the anchor line, as might occur if the surfaces 53 were not substantially normal to the axis of the shank 10.

Release of the tong 41 from the ring end 11 is accomplished through essentially the same technique as is employed in releasing the anchor of FIGURE 1. The ring 30 is passed down the line 16 to shift the lever members 43, 44 together against the action of the spring 51. This releases the tong from the ring end 11. Further tensioning of the anchor line 16 will be transmitted to the crown end ring 40 by the auxiliary line 50 causing the anchor to be hoisted in a reverse direction.

In FIGURES 4 through 6 an alternate form of anchor is shown and the sequential steps of release of any of the embodiment of this invention are better explained and shown. In the embodiment of these figures one of a plurality of links 55 is pivotally connected to each of the arms 13 and to the sleeve 25. The lock bar 26' has a pivotal connection 56 formed at the end of the release portion 36' nearest the ring end 11. A substantial portion of the lock bar 26 is disposed within a hollow shank 10. The spring 28 is also disposed within the shank.

The lock bar 26' has an actuating end portion 57 which extends through the sleeve 25'. When the anchor is in the anchoring position of FIGURE 4, an end hook 58 engages the sleeve and holds it in the anchoring position. In this anchoring position of FIGURE 4, the sleeve 25' is held away from the crown end 12 in a position in its path of travel which is toward the ring end 11.

When any anchor is embedded in the bottom of a body of Water the shank will normally lie in an essentially horizontal plane with at least one of its fiukes and usually at least a part of the associated arm embedded in the bottom. A substantial amount of line, or scope, is played out so that the anchor can assume this position with the shank essentially parallel to the bottom.

Normally, with any of the well known anchors, hoisting is accomplished by pulling in the anchor line and, if possible, shifting the boat, or other vessel to a position substantially over the anchor. This will tend to shift the anchor to a position somewhat approximating the position shown in FIGURE 4 where the bottom of a body of water is designated by the numeral 60.

If the seaman cannot hoist his anchor by pulling directly upwardly on the line, he will continue to move the vessel past the anchor to pull it in a reverse direction. This action will normally, but not always, release the anchor. Further, it is not always possible to shift the boat over the anchor and past it. For example, one common practice in anchoring small boats off a shore is to position one anchor near the shore line and another a substantial distance out in the water to hold the boat in a position where its fore and aft line is substantially normal to the shoreline. Under such conditions it is not possible to pass the boat over the anchor.

The outstanding advantage of this invention is that it permits the seaman to hoist his anchor under any adverse conditions. At the same time, once it is properly set, the anchor will not accidently become released from the bottom.

A new procedure is followed in weighing anchor with any of the embodiments shown, or the other equivalents, which will be apparent to one skilled in the art. The procedure, which is the same for all embodiments, will be described in detail in connection with the sequential view shown in FIGURES 4 through 6.

First the seaman tensions the anchor line 16 and moves his boat toward the anchor as much as possible. This hoists the shank 10 to as near the vertical position as conditions will permit. The seaman then places the ring 39 about the line 16. To trigger the mechanism and release the anchor the seaman simply allows the ring 30 to slide down the line 16, or alternately triggers any suitable operator controlled release mechanism.

As the ring 30 passes onto the shank 10 in the position of FIGURE 4 and further downwardly, the weight of the ring will carry it down until it coacts with the camming surfaces 37' and compresses, in the case of FIGURES 4 through 6, the lock bar 26. This compresses the spring 28 until the lock bar 26' is in the position of FIGURE 5. Movement of the lock bar 26' to the release position of FIGURE 5 permits the sleeve to shift to the release position and the arms 13 to pivot to the release position shown in FIGURES 5 and 6. The anchor may then be facilely withdrawn from the bottom. In the embodiment of FIGURES 5 and 6 a stop projection 59 limits the travel of the ring 30. If difliculty is encountered in moving the ring 30 against the stop 59, or its equivalent, the stop guard 29 of FIGURE 1 and the unnumbered stop of FIGURE 2 on the lever arm 43, the difficulty can be overcome by jiggling the anchor line. The jiggling action permits slack to appear in the anchor line while the anchor shank '10 remains in essentially a vertical position. This releases the tension on the engaged parts and permits the weight of the ring to trigger the release mechanism.

It will be seen that in each of the embodiments the relative positions of the flukes and the line when in the anchoring positions are the same with respect to the crown end 12. By this it is meant that when the anchor is in the anchoring position, the flukes 14 and the line 16 are on the same side of a plane which passes through the crown end 12 and is normal to the axis of the shank 10. Expressed another way, the flukes and the line extend in generally parallel directions. When the release mechanism is actuated one of these members, the fiukes 14 or the line 16, is shifted to the opposite side of such a plane so that the flukes and the line then project in opposite directions with respect to the shank.

Thus, in the anchoring position the line is pulling the arms 13 and the flukes 14 toward the vessel with the flukes nearer the vessel than the remainder of the arms. Tensioning of the line, when there is adequate scope, pulls at least one of the flukes into the bottom. When the release mechanism is actuated, the converse is true and the flukes are then further from the vessel than the remainder of the arm 13. Tensioning of the line then pulls the flukes from the bottom.

While the invention has been described with a great deal of detail, it is believed that it essentially comprises a novel and improved anchor having releasable means for holding the line and flukes in anchoring positions until released by engaging actuation of an operator controlled releasing means.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. An anchoring mechanism comprising, a shank having a crown end and a ring end, at least one arm connected to the crown end and projecting transversely from the shank, said arm having a fluke member at the end remote from the crown, the fluke member having when in use an anchoring position located on the ring end side of a plane perpendicularly intersecting the shank axis at the crown end, a line member connected to the shank, the line member having an anchoring position when in use, said line member being secured to the ring end and extending longitudinally from the shank in a direction away from the crown end when the line member is in use and disposed in the anchoring position whereby tension exerted on the line member pulls the fluke member into the bottom of a body of water or the like when the members are in the anchoring positions, releasable means connectable to the shank and one of the members, said releasable means having a spring urging it toward a first position, and a ring slidable along the line member and engageable with the releasable means to compress the spring and thereby shift the releasable means to a second position, said line member and fluke member being held in the anchor positions when the device is in use with the releasable means in the first position, said one of the members being movable to a release position when the releasable means is in the second position, said one member release position being on the side of such plane opposite the ring end thereby permitting continued tensioning of the line member to pull the fluke member from the bottom.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the ring comprises selectively engageable sections connectable together to form a ring about a line.

3. An anchoring device comprising, a shank member having a ring end and a crown end, a line connected to the ring end, a plurality of arm members, each of said arm members being pivotally connected to the shank member at the crown end, a lock bar pivotally connected to one of the members and operably engageable with the other members when in a first position, said arms having an anchoring position and a release position, said arms being held in the anchoring position by the operative engagement of said lock bar with said other members when the lock bar is in the first position, a spring carried by the device and urging the bar into said first position, said bar having a camming surface tapering outwardly relative to said shank member in a direction from said shank member ring end toward said crown end, and a ring slidable along said line into said shank, the ring being slidable along the shank member and said camming surface to compress the spring and shift the lock bar into a second position, said arm members being movable from the anchoring to the release positions when the bar is in said second position.

4. An anchoring device comprising, a shank having a ring end and a crown end, a plurality of arms, each of said arms being pivotally connected to the shank at the crown end, a sleeve carried by the shank and operably engageable with the arms, the sleeve being slidable from a holding position to a disengagement position, a lock bar pivotally carried by the shank and having a first position, the bar being in operable connection with the sleeve when the sleeve is in the holding position, said arms having an anchoring position and a release position, said arms being held in the anchoring position by the operative engagements with the sleeve when the lock bar is in the first position and the sleeve is in the holding position and in operative engagement with the arms and the lock bar, a spring carried by the device and interposed between the shank and the bar to urge the bar into said first posi tion, said bar having a camming surface tapering outwardly relative to said shank in a direction from said shank ring end toward said crown end, a ring slidable along said shank and said camming surface to compress the spring and shift the lock bar to a second position, said sleeve being slidable along said shank to a disengagement position when the bar is in second position, and said arms being movable to said release position when said bar is in the second position.

5. An anchoring device comprising, a shank member having a ring end and a crown end, a plurality of arm members, each of said arm members being pivotally connected to the shank member at the crown end, a lock bar pivotally connected to one of the members and operably engageable with the other members when in a first position, said arms having an anchoring position and a release position, said arms being held in the anchoring position by the lock bar operative engagement with said other members when the lock bar is in the first position, a spring carried by the device and urging the bar into said first position, said bar having a camming surface tapering outwardly relative to said shank member in a direction from said shank member ring end toward said crown end, a ring slidable along said shank member and said camming surface to compress the spring and shift the lock bar to a second position, said arm members being movable from the anchoring to the release positions when the bar is in said second position, and a guard transversely extending from said shank to protect said bar, said guard also being a stop to limit the sliding of said ring.

6. An anchoring device comprising, a shank having a ring end and a crown end, a plurality of arms, each of said arms being pivotally connected to the shank at the crown end, a sleeve carried by the shank, a plurality of links pivotally connected to the sleeve, each of the links being pivotally connected to one of the arms, the sleeve having a holding position, the sleeve being slidable toward the crown end from the holding position to a disengagement position, a lock bar pivotally carried by the shank and having a hooked end and a first position, the hook engaged with the sleeve when the sleeve is in the holding position and the bar is in the first position, said arms having an anchoring position and a release position, said arms being held in the anchoring position when the lock bar hook is engaged with the sleeve and the sleeve is in the holding position, a spring carried by the device and interposed between the shank and the bar to urge the bar into said first position, said bar having a camming surface tapering outwardly relative to said shank in a direction from said shank ring end toward said crown end, a ring slidable along said shank and said camming surface to compress the spring and shift the lock bar to a second position, the hook and sleeve being disengaged when the bar is in the second position, said sleeve being slidable along said shank to the disengagement position when the bar is in said second position, and said arms being shiftable to said release position when said sleeve is in the disengagement position.

7. An anchoring device comprising, a shank having a ring end and a crown end, a plurality of arms, each of said arms being pivotally connected to the shank at the crown end, each of said arms having an anchoring position and a release position, a sleeve carried by the shank, each of the arms having a sleeve engagement projection the sleeve being slidable from a holding position to a disengagement position, each of the projections being disposed in part within the sleeve when the sleeve is in the holding position and the arms are in the anchoring positions, a lock bar pivotally carried by the shank and having a first position in holding engagement with the sleeve when the sleeve is in the holding position, a spring carried by the device and interposed between the shank and the bar to urge the bar into said first position, said bar having a camming surface tapering outwardly relative to said shank in a direction from said shank ring end toward said crown end, a ring slidable along said shank and said camming surface to compress the spring and shift the lock bar to a second position, said sleeve being slidable along said shank to the disengagement position when the bar is in said second position, and said arms being movable to said release positions when said sleeve is in the disengagement position.

8. An anchoring device comprising, a shank having a ring at a ring end and a crown end, a plurality of arms extending transversely from the shank at the crown end, a tong having first and second levers relatively movable to open and closed positions, said tong including a spring urging said levers into the closed position, said tong being selectively connectable to said ring when the levers are in the closed position, a main anchor line connected to said tong, an auxiliary line connected to the main line and to the shank crown end, the auxiliary line having a greater length than the total of the length of main line between the line and tong connections, the length of tong and the length of the shank, whereby the auxiliary line is slack when the tong is connected to the shank, and operator controlled means selectively engageable with said levers to compress said spring and open the tong, the connection between the tong and the shank ring end being broken when the tong is opened.

9. An anchoring device comprising, a shank having a ring end and a crown end, a plurality of arms extending transversely from the shank at the crown end, a tong having first and second levers relatively movable to open and closed positions, said levers each having bent end portions mateable to form an eye, said tong including a spring urging said levers into the closed eye position, said levers each having inner eye surfaces, said surfaces adjacent said mating having relatively flat nonarcuate portions to engage said ring end, said tong eye being selectively connectable to said ring end when the levers are in the closed position, a main anchor line connected to said tong, an

auxiliary line connected to the main line and to the shank crown end, the auxiliary line having a greater length than the total of the length of the main line between the line and tong connections, the length of the tong and the length of the shank, whereby the auxiliary line is slack when the tong is connected to the shank, and operator controlled means selectively engageable with said levers to compress said spring and open the tong, the connection between the tong and the shank ring end being broken when the tong is opened.

10. An anchoring device comprising, a shank having ring at a ring end and a crown end, a plurality of arms extending transversely from the shank at the crown end, a tong having first and second levers relatively movable to said tong including a spring urging said levers into the closed position, said tong being selectively connectable to said ring when the levers are in the closed position, a main anchor line connected to said tong, an auxiliary line connected to the main line and to the shank crown end, the auxiliary line having a greater length than the total of the length of main line between the line and tong connections, the length of tong and the length of the shank, whereby the auxiliary line is slack when the tong is connected to the shank, and a ring slidable along said main line and engageable with said levers to compress said spring and open the tong, the connection between the tong and the shank ring end being broken when the tong is opened.

11. An anchoring device comprising, a shank having a ring at a ring end and a crown end, a plurality of arms extending transversely from the shank at the crown end, a tong having first and second pivotally connected levers relatively movable to open and closed positions, said levers having eye and cam portions on opposite sides of the pivot, said tong including a spring carried by the levers urging said levers into a closed eye position, said eye being selectively connectable to said ring, and said cam portions each having an end remote from the pivot, a main anchor line connectable to one of the remote ends, said cam portions having camming surfaces tapering outwardly from one another as measured from the remote ends toward the pivot, an auxiliary line connected to the main line and to the shank crown end, the auxiliary line having a greater length than the total of the length of the main line between the line and tong connections, the length of the tong and the length of the shank, whereby the auxiliary line is slack when the tong is connected to the shank, and a ring slidable along said main line and selectively engageable with said camming surfaces to compress said spring and open the eye whereby to break the connection between the eye and the shank ring end.

Wilcox Oct. 1, 1889 McAvoy Dec. 6, 1949 

